With their colorful flowers and long blooming season, annual flowers have many uses in the garden. They are used in flower beds both to create a mass effect of colorful blooms, and in mixed beds with perennials, roses, spring bulbs, and shrubs to fill in when other plants are no longer flowering.
Annuals are frequently grown in pots and hanging baskets. Some can be taken indoors in the fall to continue the summer indoors. You can find your climate zone with your zip code, and the average first frost date.
One of the most inviting ways to use annuals is along walkways in colorful border beds leading to the front door. Long stem annuals are good for flower bouquets. Tall annuals, like sunflowers, can be used to screen unsightly areas. Others are vines that can cover a fence or provide temporary ground cover. Marigolds are used as companion plants to repel insects from other plants, and a few are even edible -- sunflowers, kale, and nasturtiums.
